To co~create a global campaign to raise awareness about the famine crises in Africa, to showcase the wealth of short-term and long-term solutions, and to provide holistic design strategies of practical actions for concerned citizens, dedicated grassroots organisations, conscious celebrities and philanthropists to work together to prevent millions of people from starving to death now and in the future. This is a historic opportunity for humankind to act on the heart of our humanity - together.
1. To help grow public awareness about the famine crises - and the practical ways to help stop it - through social media (videos, memes etc.)
2. To collectively call out self-proclaimed billionaire philanthropists to rise to this humanitarian crisis. See this video for inspiration.
3. To support immediate solutions by mapping, tracking and showcasing those projects (like the LOVE ARMY) and organizations (like ARAHA) with the most effective strategies and practical actions to prevent famine and starvation and works towards ecological food sustainability and peace.
4. To empower the public with information and practical ways to support the We Stand With Africa campaign. Watch this video to see how three celebrities rallied thousands of supporters within weeks and began a Love Army that continues to save hundreds of lives in Somalia.
5. To facilitate an open dialogue exploring and promoting practical and long-term solutions and innovations for ensuring sustainable food and water security combined with social justice, citizenship empowerment, and peace building efforts at the local , national, regional and international levels. We Stand With Africa fb-group
6. To identify and connect with leading like-hearted and solutions-oriented organisations throughout Africa – especially youth groups, women's groups and permaculture & ecovillage groups – and to encourage and facilitate transdisciplinary awareness and cooperation.
7. To honour and to give back to Mama Africa. The so-called developed world has risen primarily on the exploitation of African people and the continent's abundant wealth of natural resources. The cradle of our humanity is calling us back to the true spirit of Ubuntu.
8. To honour and build on the courageous and unifying actions of Standing Rock.
9. To continue building the movement through a series of “We Stand” unified actions. We Stand for Peace, We Stand for Nature, We Stand for Gender-Equality and We Stand for Universal Basic Income are all potential campaigns that will invite and explore focussed and coherent action among the numerous like-hearted movements.
- Form an initial alliance among synergistic groups to further develop and enhance this draft proposal. Current possible partners include Unify, ARAHA, United Earth, Global Ecovillage Network - Africa, Compassion Games, International Children’s Month, Love Army and African Permaculture Institutes.
- Approach conscious celebrities to support and promote this campaign. Examples: Prince Ea, Nahko Bear, Appalachian Rising, Shimshai, Snatam Kaur etc.
- Media campaigns #westandwithafrica will focus on solutions and our collective potential, no judgements or condemnations. We are inviting billionaires to become heroes as they have the immediate capacity to save millions of lives.
- Develop a social media blitz that can overflow into independent media, Al Jazeera, RTV etc.
- Create a platform / website / fb page that brings an unprecedented level of transparency around how the money and food are distributed. See opencollective.org
The potential for building on this campaign is astronomical. Think food & water security and sovereignty methods (from warka water towers to inoculated oyster mushroom bags), ecological regeneration, solutions-awareness, whole-systems transition strategies… you see where we’re heading.
Moreover, by securing food we actually work on all the SDGs at once as this article expounds.
Contact for We Stand With Africa, Anneloes Smitsman, CEO EARTHwise Centre, co-Steward United Earth: anneloes@earthwisecentre.org
Join the conversation on our We Stand With Africa facebook group
“We Stand with Africa” is a collaborative initiative that was initiated by EARTHwise Centre and United Earth. We are currently inviting more partners to join us in this, and will be happy to add your logos and names here in this document as we grow in our collaboration. Thank you.
